NEW YORK - A judge upheld New York City's ban on cellphones in school, but parents challenging the ban vowed to appeal.

State Supreme Court Judge Lewis Bart Stone Monday ruled the city Board of Education had the authority to ban cellphones in New York's schools.

The Department of Education "is pleased that the policy, which helps foster a productive learning environment among students, will remain in place," city lawyer Eamonn Foley said, the New York Sun reported.

But Ellen Bilofksy, a parent who had sought to overturn the ban, said she will keep fighting.

"It's not over yet," Bilofsky told the Sun. "It's still an unfair and unenforceable rule."

Bilofsky said she joined the lawsuit after her then-14-year-old daughter wandered the streets without a phone after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Now her son is a high school sophomore and she worries because he doesn't have a phone, she said.

"I don't want to ever be in that position again," Bilofsky told the Sun.